Grinding Food Waste to a Halt

Garbage disposals can flush away challenges of food waste and emissions

The UN Sustainable Development Goals were developed to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. Five years since their establishment, the world continues to use natural resources unsustainably as waste continues to be generated and not recycled.

The pandemic is offering an opportunity to develop promising recovery plans that will build a more sustainable future. As many great leaders have stated over the past few months, we simply cannot afford to disregard sustainable development because of Covid-19. In fact, sustainability needs to be incorporated and harmonised with every country’s recovery plans to stabilise the economy while simultaneously safeguarding the planet and its resources.

Over 80 countries globally have pledged their support of SDG 12 for Responsible Consumption and Production between 2017 and 2019, reporting at least one policy to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns.

SDG 12 places importance on being mindful of what, how, and how much we produce and consume. This is an incredibly important goal given the extreme stress we are exerting on the planet’s finite resources. It is estimated that the world population will reach 9.5 billion by 2050 and as the world’s population continues to grow, so do our needs, while we look for larger homes, nicer cars, entertainment, distant vacations, the latest gadgets, and so on. But as Ivano Iannelli, CEO of Dubai Carbon put it, “individual needs may be limitless but resources are finite”. Our consumption and production patterns are problematic given the pace with which we are depleting the world’s resources. Human activity since the 1950s has had an incredible impact on the environment, including increased levels of carbon dioxide and other pollutants in the atmosphere, depleted parts of the ozone layer, increased rates of animal and plant extinction, and much more.

Considering the impact of our behaviours and activities, it is imperative to find solutions and compromises to our current ways of living. Ensuring development that addresses the needs of humanity and removes excessive strains on the planet can begin from the adoption of sustainable patterns of consumption and production. And if practiced by all, sustainable living does not need to mean going completely vegan and reusing water from your showers. A mass adoption of simple practices, such as switching off unused lights and appliances and recycling can result in a great impact – actually, in a reduced environmental impact!

InSinkErator, Emerson, a leader in technology and engineering providing innovative solutions across markets, was founded as a result of John W Hammes’ desire in 1927 to help his wife clean up messy food waste after dinner. In other words, to change basic household habits for the better. His goal was to find a solution to the bothersome task of taking the trash out by creating a hygienic and practical tool to discard food scraps by grinding them into tiny pieces and flushing them down the kitchen sink into the city’s sewage treatment plant. As a result, the garbage disposal unit was invented. After over a decade of perfecting the garbage disposal prototype, the commercial production of the InSinkErator brand began in 1938.

Hammes’ invention addressed precisely the problem we are dealing with today – excess waste. Garbage disposals present an ecological solution to discarding food waste by diverting it from landfills and avoiding methane production.

Garbage disposals present an ecological solution to discarding food waste by diverting it from landfills and avoiding methane production.

Additionally, when a city’s wastewater system is equipped with facilities set up to convert food waste into renewable energy, such as the Sharjah Waste to Energy Facility, a project by Emirates Waste to Energy Facility, a project by Emirates Waste to Energy Company (EWTE) and expected to be completed in 2021, simply putting your food scraps down the drain can help address growing energy needs and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Basically, garbage disposals address greenhouse gas emissions in two ways: diverting food waste from landfills, and generating renewable energy.

In the UAE, garbage disposals are not common. But just as microwaves were not common here 25 years ago, there is potential for widespread adoption. Mohamed Karam, Senior Business Development Manager, Middle East & Africa of InSinkErator told The Sustainabilist “the current infrastructure developed in UAE and the individual public awareness for sustainability and climate change is helping to increase the demand and needs for our solutions.”

Reducing food waste is undoubtedly the most ecological solution to the waste problem. Storing food correctly, being mindful of expiration dates, and saving leftovers are just a few ways in which food waste can be reduced. But when there is nothing left consume, the next best option is the garbage disposal unit.